Powhatan Indian Research

Powhatan Indians (Southern Renape pawd’tan, ‘falls in a current’ of water.-Gerard). A confederacy of Virginian Algonquian tribes. Their territory included the tidewater section of Virginia from the Potomac south to the divide between James River and Albemarle sound, and extended into the interior as far as the falls of the principal rivers about Fredericksburg and Richmond. They also occupied the Virginia counties east of Chesapeake Bay and possibly included some tribes in lower Maryland. In the Piedmont region west of them were the hostile Monacan and Manahoac, while on the south were the Chowanoc, Nottoway, and Meherrin of Iroquoian stock. Read more about the Powhatan History

Archives, Libraries and Genealogy Societies

AccessGenealogy Library – Provides a listing of our on line books, books we own, and books we will be putting on line

Powhatan Indian Language

Powhatan Indian Legends

Mailing Lists

NA-NEWBIES – A mailing list for anyone new to Native American Research, all Tribes and Nations.

NATIVEAMERICAN-BURIALGROUNDS– Discussing and sharing of information regarding remaining and lost Native American burial grounds in the United States

NATIVEAMERICAN-CHIEFS – A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in the chiefs of the Native American tribes/nations in the United States. Stories or history of Chiefs in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean are also welcome.

Powhatan Indian Military

Other Tribes

The list of tribes and organizations below are not federally recognized. Many of them are state recognized organizations only or working towards federal recognition. We do not have the resources to check the validity of each and every organization and expect that you should before attempting to join or send a monetary contribution. We will provide a listing for any Native American organization or tribe. If you would like your organization listed please submit the information here.

Schools

Treaties

Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. 2 As the United States expanded westward from the original thirteen colonies, settlers often confronted the existing owners of the land. As a result the federal government often negotiated treaties with these Native Americans. This collection of official treaties was compiled by the United States and originally printed in 1904.

Suggested Reading

Pocahontas’s People: The Powhatan Indians of Virginia Through Four Centuries, By Helen C. Roundtree This history traces events that shaped the lives of the Powhatan Indians of Virginia, from their first encounter with English colonists, in 1607, to their present-day way of life and relationship to the state of Virginia and the federal government. Roundtree’s examination of those four hundred years misses not a beat in the pulse of Powhatan life. Combining meticulous scholarship and sensitivity, the author explores the diversity always found among Powhatan people, and those people’s relationships with the English, the government of the fledgling United States, the Union and the Confederacy, the U.S. Census Bureau, white supremacists, the U.S. Selective Service, and the civil rights movement.

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